Field
The present disclosure generally relates to medication distribution, and, in particular, relates to systems and methods for managing delivery of a prepared medication in a healthcare facility.
Description of the Related Art
Certain pharmaceutical drugs are compounded to fit the needs of a patient. Compounding pharmacists combine or process appropriate ingredients using various tools to create a compounded pharmaceutical drug. For instance, compounding of sterile intravenous (IV) compounds can be done in anticipation of medication orders based on standard doses, or compounding can be done specific to a patient's need based on a physician order. Compounding may be done for medically necessary reasons, such as to change the form of the medication from a solid pill to a liquid, to avoid a non-essential ingredient that the patient is allergic to, or to obtain the exact dose(s) needed of particular active pharmaceutical ingredient(s). It may also be done for more optional reasons, such as adding flavors to a medication or otherwise altering taste or texture. Compounding is most routine in the case of intravenous (IV)/parenteral medication.
IV fluid delivery systems are used to deliver or “administer” such compounded IV medications (or “infusion solutions”) in fluid form to patients at controlled rates. Many individuals suffer from acute and chronic health problems, the treatment of which could require regular, and sometimes extended, IV infusions. Certain treatment regimens for diseases such as infections, cancer and even basic fluid and electrolyte replacement, require the regular and sequenced infusion of precise amounts of intravenous medication for the patient's survival. Specifics of intravenous infusion of medications may depend on the patient, treatment regimen, and choices of the clinician and institution. Treating chronic medical disorders often requires the administration of medication over a long period of time according to a treatment regimen specified by a medical professional, such as a physician.
In cases of patients admitted to a healthcare facility, one or more infusions to be administered to a patient are prescribed by the patient's physician. A pharmacy, generally located within the patient's hospital or healthcare facility, prepares the infusion medication or solution according to the physician's prescription, for example, in a cleanroom (e.g., an environment having a controlled level of contamination that is specified by a number of particles per cubic meter at a specified particle size). An appropriately trained and credentialed pharmacist places the infusion solution in a bag, bottle, syringe, or other container and labels the container. The infusion solution is then commonly staged in a pickup location, such as a bin-sorting area. A sorting person is then responsible for placing each prepared infusion solution into bins or delivery carts that correspond to the locations where the infusion solutions will be delivered, such as an Intensive Care Unit (ICU). A delivery person retrieves the infusion solutions from the bins that correspond to areas of the healthcare facility to which that delivery person delivers. The delivery person then delivers the infusion solutions to the appropriate locations of the healthcare facility.
A delivery person may not have any knowledge whether an infusion solution that urgently needs to be delivered to an area of the hospital that the delivery person delivers to is sitting in the bin-sorting area, or is in the process of being prepared. Thus, even though there may be a prepared infusion solution sitting it the bin-sorting area that urgently needs to be delivered to an area of the healthcare facility that the delivery person delivers to, the delivery person may be unaware of the infusion solution and may leave without the infusion solution. Therefore another delivery person will need to be dispatched to urgently deliver the infusion solution.
The infusion solution is then delivered to the patient's location and a clinician such as a nurse or other clinician hangs the infusion solution from a rack. The nurse connects a tube between the infusion solution and an infusion pumping system and inserts a cannula at the end of the tube into the vessel of the patient for delivery of the infusion solution to the patient.